Mega Auction: Auctioneer Hugh Edmeades collapses on stage mid-auction

The Indian T20 league mega auction was a much-awaited event, and it finally went underway a few hours ago. Midway through day one, the auctioneer Hugh Edmeades collapsed on the stage. The auction process was put to a halt as the auctioneer was not feeling well.

It was later reported that the Hugh was better, and the auction would resume shortly. Earlier in the day, he said that he would approach the auction in bite-size pieces as it would be a long process. He also mentioned that this will be his longest project.

"During my 38 years as an auctioneer, I have taken plenty of two-day auctions, but admittedly, none lasting a potential 12+ hours. However, I am not at all fazed by the prospect of being on my feet for up to six hours each day. Mentally and physically, I will be splitting the sessions into “bite-size pieces” and taking the opportunities to regroup during the breaks in the auction," he said.

Meanwhile, many marquee players have gone under the hammer and the results have been surprising. Pat Cummins and Shreyas Iyer were sold to Kolkata, Iyer will lead the side. Delhi bagged David Warner for 6.25 crores. Lucknow has been very active too, they have Jason Holder, Quinton de Kock in their team already. Rajasthan also has some good buys in Devdutt Padikkal and Trent Boult. Bangalore got Faf du Plessis and Harshal Patel.

Mumbai and Chennai have not been very active in the day.